Dhyana Paramita

Good morning everyone. Now we come to the fifth of the six paramitas, dhyana paramita. Dhyana is a sanskrit word that comes from the pali word jhana. It means meditation. When Buddhism came to China, dhyana came to be pronounced ch'an. The Buddhist tradition brought to China by Bodhidharma emphasized concentrated meditation, or dhyana, and came to be called the ch'an school. There was already Buddhism in China before the time of Bodhidharma, but this earlier Chinese Buddhism did not place so much emphasis on meditation.

Bodhidharma's style of Buddhism combined with the Chinese cultural sensiblity grew and developed in China for another 5 or 600 years before it traveled to Japan in the late 12th century. In Japan, ch'an came to be pronounced "zen" which is the name of our school. So the original meaning of "zen" is simply "meditation."

Little wonder that dhyana paramita is the most important one. Our ability to realize our true selves and to practice all the other paramitas has its source in our meditation. In our school this is so important that we take it for our name.

And we say that our practice is to realize that everything is zen. But if everything is zen, how can we talk about it? Please don't expect me to give you an answer.

One book that I have been using as a reference for these talks on the Paramitas is by a western zen teacher, Robert Aitken Roshi. In his chapter on dhyana paramita, Aitken Roshi says, "The extraordinary thing is that although Dhyana is the name of our sect and is our primary method, usually not much instruction is given about it." We emphasize giving attention to the posture and the breath. We say just be open and let go of the thoughts and feelings and sensations that arise. And that's pretty much it. Aitken Roshi says instead of that he prefers to teach as much detail as possible about the practice of zazen, or sitting zen. He says that and then doesn't really say any more than posture, breath, just let go.

Another reference I've been using is the Bodhisattvacharyavattara, Shantideva's great book on the paramitas. his chapter on dhyana paramita is longer than any of the chapters before it. But the chapter doesn't talk directly about meditation very much. Most of the chapter is about all the things that we need to let go of, and about how important it is to do that. Actually I would say that this is about meditation though. One the one hand, just coming to the cushion is an act of letting go. And as we continue practicing meditation on and off the cushion we continue to train in letting go. This is extremely important.

I would like to continue by talking a little about one of the fundamental texts of soto zen, Dogen Zenji's Fukanzazengi, or "Recommending Zazen for all People."

In our translation, the first line is "The essential way flows everywhere," but apparently in the original, the first line is "After searching exhaustively." According to Maezumi Roshi this phrase is usually not included in the translations because it is just considered to be a kind of standard introduction. But Maezumi says that for some, this phrase "After searching exhaustively" is the most important part of the teaching. For most of us here in the west, I think this is really true. Most of us have been raised outside of the Buddhist tradition. Most of our lives we have accepted the notion that we are separate and independent selves. We believe what we think.

And we probably wouldn't be here learning about zen if that had worked out for us. But one way or another it didn't. Maybe it didn't work out in a very dramatic way with a lot of pain and suffering, or maybe we've just had a subtle but persistent sense that the conventional and habitual way of being in the world wasn't satisfactory or didn't address the questions that we wanted to know how to ask. So we wound up here "after searching exhaustively." Maybe some of us are still searching and will find some other teaching that is more appropriate in our lives. I actually feel as though I didn't really have a choice. I feel as though I've always been a zen student, it just took me a long time to realize it. So anyway, here we are. After searching exhaustively, we pick up Dogen's great essay on recommending zazen to all people.

The essential way flows everywhere; how could it require practice or enlightenment? The essential teaching is fully available; how could effort be necessary? Furthermore, the entire mirror is free of dust; why take steps to polish it? Nothing is separate from this very place; why journey away?

Is this what you have been wondering? If everything is already perfect, why not just sit back and take it easy? Or on the other hand you might think, "I see a lot of problems here so anyone who says things are perfect just as they are is a complete idiot."

How does Dogen respond to this?

And yet, if you miss the mark even by a strand of hair, you are as far apart from it as heaven from earth. If the slightest discrimination occurs, you will be lost in confusion." "You may be proud of your understanding and have abundant realization, or you may have acquired outstanding wisdom and attained the way by clarifying the mind. However, even with hight aspirations, if you wander about and get an initial glimpse of understanding, you may still lack the vital path that allows you to leap free of the body.

If you start having ideas and making explanations, if you think about it, you will be off the mark. "If the slightest discrimination occurs..." So, yes of course everything is perfect just as it is, but then we go and try to freeze that in time so we can think and talk about it. It's like catching a beautiful butterfly and killing it so that we can look at it. It might be fascinating and beautiful, but it's no longer a butterfly.

Or maybe we really do transcend self and other and experience the vastness of it all. Dogen says, "That's a start."

He says,

Observe the example of Shakyamuni Buddha at the Jeta Grove, who practiced upright sitting for six years even though he was gifted with intrinsic wisdom. Still celebrated is the Master Bodhidharma of Shaolin Temple who sat facing the wall for nine years, although he had already received the mind seal. Ancient sages were like this; who nowadays does not need to practice as they did?

The Buddha, in spite of his advanced understanding, needed years of hard practice. Not only that, but he continued his meditation practice diligently till the end of his days. He didn't stop meditating even after his enlightenment. And Bodhidharma sat nine years in a cave even after he had been authenticated as a lineage holder in India. How could you and I possibly think that we don't need to meditate?

Stop searching for phrases and chasing after words. Take the backward step and turn the light inward. Your body-mind of itself will drop away and your original face will appear. If you want to attain just this, immediately practice just this.

The way that I look at this, Dogen says we need to stop looking somewhere else. We usually think that the truth or enlightenment or happiness is someplace else & we want to get there. So Dogen says, don't keep trying to move away. The backward step is a step into the unknown. When we step back, we step into the unknown while keeping our life right in front of us. Just do that and without even trying we'll forget who we used to think we were. Our original face is our true face. It's the face that has always been there, but that we never allowed ourselves to see.

Dogen goes on to give some very practical advice: find a quiet spot, don't eat too much, don't judge, don't analyze. Arrange your cushions, take up the posture, sit straight, eyes open, hands in the zazen mudra, breathe gently.

Then he says,

Now sit steadfastly and think not thinking. How do you think not thinking? Beyond thinking. This is the essential art of zazen. The zazen I speak of is not learning meditation. It is simply the dharma gate of enjoyment and ease. It is the practice-realization of complete enlightenment. Realize the fundamental point free from the binding of nets and baskets. Once you experience it, you are like a dragon swimming in the water or a tiger reposing in the mountains. Know that the true dharma emerges of itself, clearing away hindrances and distractions.

There's a well known story around the San Francisco Zen Center that I think relates to this. A student said,

"One day, in a sesshin, I had the feeling, 'Hey! I've got it. I think I am doing zazen. Wow!'"
She went to tell Suzuki Roshi about it. She said it was the only time he ever got angry at her. He said, "Don't ever imagine that you can sit zazen. That's a big mistake. Zazen sits zazen."

When zazen sits zazen, "you" disappear. It's not so much that you were there and then you're gone. You never were there in the first place so all that's required is to take a break from holding on to that illusion. Just put it down. Thoughts may come, but there's no "you" driving them or using them as support. Then "the true dharma emerges of itself."

This is not a meditation technique. It is just life, "free from the binding of nets and baskets." When "you" get out of the way, there is just life unfolding. That is zazen. It's not the posture or the breath, activity or stillness. Coming back to those things is a way of allowing zazen to express itself, but true zazen is not limited to technique.

A monk asked Zhao-zhou, "What is zazen?"
Zhao-zhou replied, "It is non-.zazen"
The monk asked, "How can this be?"
and Zhao-zhou answered, "It's alive!"

Dhyana Paramita means perfect meditation that goes beyond meditation. This is exactly what Dogen, and Suzuki Roshi and Zhao-zhou were talking about.

Thank you for listening.

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The Six Paramitas

Dhyana Paramita